Characters of Final Fantasy X and X-2
The tenth game of the Final Fantasy series, Square's bestselling role-playing video game Final Fantasy X features several fictional characters designed by Tetsuya Nomura who wanted the main characters' designs and names to be connected with their personalities and roles in the plot. The game takes place in the fictional universe of Spira that features multiple tribes. The game's sequel released in , Final Fantasy X-2, takes place two years after the events in Final Fantasy X and uses new and returning characters. There are seven main playable characters in Final Fantasy X starting with Tidus, a skilled blitzball player from Zanarkand who is lost in the world of Spira after an encounter with an enormous creature called Sin and searches for a way home. He joins the summoner Yuna who travels towards the Zanarkand's ruins in order defeat Sin alongside her guardians: Kimahri Ronso, a member of the Ronso tribe; Wakka, the captain of the blitzball team in Besaid; Lulu, a stoic black mage; Auron, a famous warrior and an old acquaintance of Tidus; and Rikku, Yuna's cousin who searches for a way to avoid Yuna's sacrifice in the fight against Sin. The leader of the Guado tribe, Seymour Guado, briefly joins the party for a fight but is then revealed as an antagonist in his quest to replace Tidus' father, Jecht, to become the new Sin. Final Fantasy X-2 features Yuna, Rikku, and the newly introduced Paine as playable characters in their quest to find spheres across Spira and find clues regarding Tidus' current location. During their journey, they meet Paine's former comrades who are related with the spirit of an avenger named Shuyin. The creation of these characters brought the Square staff several challenges as Final Fantasy X was the first game in the franchise to feature voice acting and also had to feature multiple tribes from different parts from Spira with distinctive designs. Various types of merchandising have also been released. The characters from Final Fantasy X and its sequel were praised by video game publications owing to their personalities and designs. The English voice acting received a mixed response during their debut while in Final Fantasy X-2 the dub received a better response. Cast creation and influences The character designer from Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 is Tetsuya Nomura. Since art director Yusuke Naora convinced the Square staff to make Final Fantasy X an Asian themed game, Nomura designed the characters to give them an Asian look. Nomura first illustrated the characters' faces and started adding details upon receiving information from the staff. Since the PlayStation 2's capabilities allowed to feature multiple details, Nomura did so with characters and asked the staff to make them consistent. The hardest part from his work involved making the characters's clothes identical between full motion scenes and in-game parts. Nomura has expressed after designing serious and moody main characters for Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII, he wanted to give Tidus a cheerful attitude and appearance, which is reflected in the name Nojima chose for him (Tiida is the Okinawan word for "Sun"). Nomura has also mentioned a contrast between the lead male and female protagonists was established by Yuna's name meaning "night" in Okinawan. Since Tidus did not originate from Spira, his outfit was made stand out from the ones from world's inhabitants. Nomura also placed image colors to each main character to give hints regarding their personalities. Since both the player and the main character find themselves in a new world, Nojima wanted Tidus' understanding of the world to reflect the player's progress in the game; a connection that allowed the player to advance Tidus' first-person narration of most of Final Fantasy X. Sub-character chief designer Fumi Nakashima's focus was to ensure that characters from different regions and cultures bore distinctive characteristics in their clothing styles, so that they could be quickly and easily identified as members of their respective sub-groups. For example, she has said that the masks and goggles of the Al Bhed give the group a "strange and eccentric" appearance, while the attire of the Ronso lend to them being able to easily engage in battle. Final Fantasy X features innovations in the rendering of characters' facial expressions, achieved through motion capture and skeletal animation technology. This technology allowed animators to create realistic lip movements, which were then programmed to match the speech of the game's voice actors. Nojima has revealed that the inclusion of voice acting enabled him to express emotion more powerfully than before, and he was therefore able to keep the storyline simple. He also said that the presence of voice actors led him to make various changes to the script, in order to match the voice actors' personalities with the characters they were portraying. Despite being worried about the inclusion of voice acting, Nomura was satisfied when hearing their clip as he stated the characters "became full of life." The voice acting brought difficulties in the making of the English version of the game as the localization team has to translate Japanese dialogues into English-oriented lines as well as fit the characters' lip movements. Before starting development of Final Fantasy X-2, Square had planned to make a game following the story of Jecht, Auron and Braska ten years before the events of Final Fantasy X, but they felt that they would end with a "traditional game." For Final Fantasy X-2 Tetsu Tsukamoto designed the new costumes used by the main characters in order to distance the game from its prequel while Nomura still remained as the character designer. The outfits are meant to represent the changes from the world of Spira after two years of peace. The use of three female characters was inspired by multiple films that depict strong female leads. To reinforce this concept, the staff made sure to make the protagonists still look femenine while changing into multiple type of warriors such as the Samurai form in which feature the characters having troubles wielding large swords. Main playable characters Tidus is a skilled seventeen-year-old blitzball player from Zanarkand and the main protagonist of Final Fantasy X. Though Tidus is his official name, the player has the option of naming him at the beginning of the game. He plays for Zanarkand's team and washes up near Spira after being attacked by the creature Sin during a blitzball game. He becomes one of Yuna's guardians in order to find a way back to Zanarkand during the journey. Throughout the game, he finds himself coming to terms with his father, Jecht, who has become Sin, and dealing with his increasing love for Yuna and the implications of her pilgrimage. The character's outfit was designed to stand out within the people from Spira due to being from another world, while his lively personality is meant to contrast previous Final Fantasy protagonists. Tidus has also been featured in the Kingdom Hearts series and is also the hero representing Final Fantasy X in Dissidia Final Fantasy. He is voiced by Masakazu Morita in the Japanese version and James Arnold Taylor in English. Yuna is a seventeen-year-old summoner from Spira. In Final Fantasy X, she is the daughter of the late High Summoner Braska who defeated Sin ten years ago, and seeks to accomplish the same task, with the help from her guardians. While often serious and naïve, she gradually becomes more open and falls in love with Tidus during their journey. Two years after the conclusion of Final Fantasy X, she is spurred on a journey of self-discovery by the possibility of reuniting with Tidus again, which results in her becoming the main character of Final Fantasy X-2. Yuna has also been featured in Kingdom Hearts II and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. She is voiced by Hedy Burress and Mayuko Aoki in the English and Japanese versions, respectively. Auron is a thirty-five-year-old warrior. He is known as a Legendary Guardian who helped Jecht and summoner Braska to defeat Sin. Shortly after Sin's defeat, Auron started watching over Tidus from afar at Jecht's request. In the game's present day, he sends Tidus to Spira using the new Sin that is Jecht. After meeting Tidus once again, the two start serving as guardians for Yuna, Braska's daughter in another journey to defeat Sin. It is eventually revealed during the game that Auron attacked the summoner Yunalesca in a fit of rage after she revealed that Braska and Jecht needlessly gave their lives against Sin, and that she struck him down with a mortal wound. Despite his injuries, Auron managed escape to Mt. Gagazet before his strength abandoned him. As he was dying, he met Kimahri Ronso and asked him to fulfill the promise he had made to Braska: that Yuna be moved from Bevelle to Besaid and have a peaceful childhood. Afterward, he became an unsent, and secretly held this status for nearly the entire duration of the game. At the end of the game, when Sin's creator, Yu Yevon, is defeated, he is laid to rest. Auron has a brief appearance in Final Fantasy X-2, where his voice helps Yuna during her battle in the Farplane with Vegnagun. The updated International version added Auron both as a boss and as an optional playable character. Auron is voiced by Matt McKenzie in the English version and Hideo Ishikawa in the Japanese version of Final Fantasy X. While the developers originally considered having Final Fantasy X-2 follow the story of Auron and Jecht's generation, they eventually let this idea pass due to the concept making the game "too traditional", deciding instead to go with the trio of Yuna, Rikku, and Paine. In initial versions of Auron was a Crusader, an exterminator of monsters from Zanarkand, but as the story involved deceased people, the staff decided to make him an Unsent. Auron was planned to be Jecht in disguise, but such idea was scrapped. Auron appears in Kingdom Hearts II as a one-world ally in the Olympus Coliseum. He is brought back to life by Hades in order to kill Hercules but Auron refuses to aid him. He joins Sora's group in escaping from the Underworld, but he is later brainwashed by Hades into fighting Hercules. During the battle, Sora restores Auron's free will, and he joins them and Hercules to defeat Hades. A super-deformed version of Auron appears in Itadaki Street Special. Wakka is a 23-year-old professional blitzball player who is characterized by having a long reddish-orange quiff, being tall and muscular in appearance. He uses speech-mannerisms as saying "brudda" for "brother" and sometimes finishing sentences with "ya?" for "right?" or "okay?" In addition to being one of Yuna's guardians and childhood friends, he is captain of the Besaid Aurochs, a blitzball team that – as of the beginning of Final Fantasy X – went twenty-three years without winning a single game. Wakka lost his younger brother Chappu to Sin a year before the events of Final Fantasy X, and he never fully recovered from it. He forms a close brotherly relationship with Tidus, partially fueled by his resemblance to Chappu, though Lulu constantly has to remind him that Tidus is not Chappu. As a devout follower of Yevon's teachings, Wakka believes that anyone who does not believe in Yevon, like the Al Bhed, are evil heathens, and is staunchly against the use of machina. However, he begins to question both his faith by the time Yevon's true colors are exposed to the world. Near the game's ending, Wakka denounces his prior beliefs entirely. Six months after the events of Final Fantasy X, he marries his childhood friend Lulu. In Final Fantasy X-2, he becomes a father to her baby, Vidina, a name thought up by Wakka. Wakka is voiced by Kazuya Nakai in Japanese and John DiMaggio in English. A younger version of Wakka makes a cameo appearance in Kingdom Hearts on Destiny Islands as a friend of a younger Tidus and Final Fantasy VIII s Selphie and a sparring partner who can be engaged in battle, fighting with a beach ball. He makes a smaller cameo in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories as well as Kingdom Hearts coded. In Kingdom Hearts, he is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. Lulu is a twenty-two-year-old black magic user and an older sister figure to Yuna, whom she grew up with alongside Wakka on Besaid Island. Before becoming one of Yuna's guardians, she had previously accompanied two other summoners as their guardians. While she is often stern and scathing (particularly to Wakka), she is nonetheless caring toward others. She appears in a reduced role for Final Fantasy X-2, where she has a child with Wakka named Vidina. She is voiced by Paula Tiso and Rio Natsuki in the English and Japanese versions respectively. Kimahri Ronso is a twenty-five-year-old warrior from Ronso tribe and Yuna's first and most faithful guardian. He has known and protected her since she was a seven-year-old child. He is not well accepted by the other Ronso, who view him as inferior due to his shorter stature and broken horn. When Tidus' group arrive at Mount Gagazet, Kimahri is confronted by Biran Ronso and Yenke Ronso, who challenge him—and thus the player—to a 2-on-1 battle as an obstacle to the player's progression. Following Kimahri's victory, he is proven his worth as a Ronso. After departing from Mt. Gagazet in shame ten years before the current events depicted in Final Fantasy X began, Kimahri discovered a dying Auron outside Bevelle. Auron told Kimahri about the daughter of Braska, Yuna, and asked him to fulfill a promise Auron had made to Braska in his stead: to remove Yuna from Bevelle and transport her to the island of Besaid, where she may grow up peacefully. Kimahri honored Auron's request and made sure that Yuna arrived at Besaid safely. When his task was completed, he prepared to depart, yet Yuna pleaded with him to remain with her, and he complied. In Final Fantasy X-2, Kimahri is depicted as the new Elder of the Ronso tribe. Kimahri's difficulties as chief comprise several playable missions, most notably involving a disagreement he has with a young Ronso named Garik, who desires to seek vengeance upon the Guado for the Ronsos killed by Seymour in the previous games as well as find two Ronso children, Lian and Ayde, who are in search of adventure and a way to fix Kimahri's broken horn. Eventually, Kimahri realizes that all Ronso should follow the example of Lian and Ayde in trying to find their own individual paths while working together to forge a better future for one another, and that he alone can not provide a single answer to what the future of the entire group should be. He is voiced by Katsumi Chō in Japanese and John DiMaggio in English. Rikku is a fifteen-year-old Al Bhed who helps Tidus when he first arrives in Spira, but then disappears during an attack from Sin. Upon meeting Tidus again, she becomes the last character to join Yuna's entourage of guardians. Her attitude is somewhat childish, but is also quite cheerful and positive. An Al Bhed, she is also Yuna's cousin, and, as such, wishes to prevent her from going through with her pilgrimage as summoners dies when defeating Sin. Rikku returns in Final Fantasy X-2 as a protagonist, now part of the Gullwings hunters. She is voiced by Marika Matsumoto in Japanese and Tara Strong in English. Paine is a protagonist of Final Fantasy X-2. While Final Fantasy X characters Yuna and Rikku were planned as stars of X-2, she was created for X-2. Paine is prominently featured as a warrior. In contrast to Yuna and Rikku, she is more calm and closed off, with her comrades knowing little about her. Through the game, the player learns Paine's experiences as a fighter for the Crimson Squad, which was intended to be an elite unit to surpass the Crusaders; the best members were to be assigned to lead Crusader chapters across Spira. Paine had been the recorder for a group of candidates named Nooj, Baralai, and Gippal, the game's present day leaders of the Youth League, New Yevon, and the Machine Faction, respectively. Most of the Crimson Squad candidates died during the group's final field exercise due to the influence of the undead Shuyin, who caused them to turn on one another while getting a glimpse of Vegnagun. Only Nooj, Baralai, Gippal and Paine escaped alive from the Yevon monks, but later, Nooj – possessed by Shuyin himself – fired on his friends, effectively ending their friendship for two years. Just before Yuna joined the group, Paine enlisted in the Gullwings in the hopes of finding out more about why the Crimson Squad had been massacred – and because she had long desired to fly in an airship. In Final Fantasy X-2 International+Last Mission, Yuna, Rikku and Paine reunite after being disbanded three months after the game ended, exploring a new tower. Paine appears in Kingdom Hearts II with an updated super deformed and fairy-like design, as do Yuna and Rikku. She is voiced by Gwendoline Yeo and Megumi Toyoguchi in English and Japanese versions, respectively. Yeo explains that she both was given liberties in how she read the script, as well as watching scenes beforehand to figure how they should be said. Yeo found Paine to be true to life, commenting that the writers left "no stone unturned" with the plot and writing. She compared herself to Paine, describing her as similarly wry.Unofficial Final Fantasy Site - Gwendoline Yeo (Paine) Interview Antagonists Sin is an enormous creature that moves through Spira's oceans in its attacks towards mankind, killing a large amount of people and destroying towns. Sin's form is vaguely whale-like in appearance, though vastly more massive and the creature is able to release remnants known as Sinpawns. Scenario writer Kazushige Nojima compared with Sin a typhoon due to the disaster it causes in the world. Summoners are tasked with destroying Sin with a creature known as the Final Aeon, sacrificing themselves so that Spira can enjoy a period of Calm until Sin is reborn. Unbeknownst to most of Spira, the Final Aeon is always made from the fayth of one of the summoner's own guardians, and it is possessed by the spirit of Yu Yevon, Sin's creator, to be transformed into a new Sin after the previous Sin is destroyed. After the Final Aeon destroys the body or armor of the previous Sin, Yu Yevon possesses the Final Aeon and kills the summoner. The possessed Aeon's power is then used by Yu Yevon to create a new Sin, with Jecht being the current incarnation during Final Fantasy X. At the end of the game, the party must fight and destroy each aeon possessed by Yu Yevon in order to draw him out so that he can be destroyed, and thus Yu Yevon does not possess an aeon, leaving him unable to create a new Sin. This final death of Sin marks the beginning of the Eternal Calm, as Spira is freed from its long cycle of destruction. Seymour Guado is the leader of the Guado nation, a race of demi-humans in the world of Spira as well a maester of Yevon. He inherited both positions after the death of his father, Lord Jyscal Guado. Seymour is half-Guado and half-human, as his father married a human woman in an attempt to foster friendship between the Guado and human races. Junichi Suwabe voices him in Japanese and Alex Fernandez in English. He is briefly playable during Operation Mi'ihen, a part of the game in which various groups join forces to stop Sin. While often formal, Seymour hides a desire to bring death to all of Spira by becoming Sin. This resulted from his father's treatment who had his wife and son exiled to the island of Baaj since Seymour was considered an abomination by the Guados. Afterwards, Seymour's mother gave her life in the Baaj Temple to become a fayth, believing that by sacrificing herself for Spira's temporary peace against Sin her son be accepted by the people. At eighteen years of age, Seymour's exile was revoked and he soon killed Jyscal. He asks summoner Yuna to marry him, seemingly to further unite Spira, as they both had mixed parentage, being the offspring of a human and another race. When Yuna's guardians learn of Seymour's motives, they stand against him and kill him. Seymour's spirit is able to remain in the living world and become an Unsent. Seymour later reveals his plans for Yuna – to turn him into the next Sin. His component pyreflies are later absorbed by Sin. There, Seymour begins seeking a means to control the creature from within. During this process, he is confronted a final time by Yuna and her guardians, who manage to break their way inside the creature's body. However, he is defeated and is sent to the Farplane by Yuna. In Final Fantasy X-2 Seymour appears only in a flashback cutscene that shows him assisting Baralai to hide from the Yevon Order. In Final Fantasy X-2 International, Seymour can be fought in the Battle Simulator tournament and also be added as a member of the party. Yunalesca is a legendary summoner and daughter of Yu Yevon from one millennium before the events of the games. She was the first person to defeat Sin, using the process known as "the Final Summoning", sacrificing her husband, Lord Zaon. Although she died in the battle, Yunalesca remained as an unsent to instruct her successors in their pilgrimage to defeat Sin's ever-regenerating incarnations. When Yuna and her guardians refuse to sacrifice a person in the Final Summoning, Yunalesca fights the party but is defeated and vanishes. She reappears in the Via Infinito in Final Fantasy X-2 as the fiend "Chac", while Zaon reappears as the fiend "Paragon". She is voiced by Yōko Koyanagi in Japanese and Julia Fletcher in English. Yu Yevon is the ruler of original Zanarkand and the father of Lady Yunalesca. Near the end of the war between Zanarkand and Bevelle, Yu Yevon and the remaining townspeople and summoners decided to preserve the overpowered Zanarkand at all costs. They all become fayth for the summoning of "Dream Zanarkand" and then drawing on millions of pyreflies with Gravity spells Yu Yevon creates Sin. The mental effort necessary to create both Dream Zanarkand and Sin essentially wipes Yu Yevon's mind clean, overwriting it with his final command: summon Dream Zanarkand and continuously create Sin. If Sin is destroyed, he then creates it by possessing the Final Aeon that defeats it. In the end, Tidus' group use the aeons to weaken the disembodied spirit of Yu Yevon, and destroy him. Shuyin is the main antagonist of Final Fantasy X-2. He is a native of Zanarkand who had lived during the age of the Machina War between Zanarkand and Bevelle. The lover of the summoner Lenne, he refused to accept her fate when she was ordered to the front lines and attempted to commandeer Bevelle's machina weapon, , in the hopes of using it to end the war and save Lenne. Both Shuyin and Lenne were gunned down in front of Vegnagun after she prevented him from using it to take many lives for her sake. Sealed in the Den of Woes, Shuyin's unsent spirit was filled with despair and self-loathing, not capable of fading away and be free of his suffering. Shuyin desires to destroy all of Spira in the hopes that his agony may be able to end and that there can never again be a war like the one that cost him and Lenne their lives. Unlike other deceased people, Shuyin is called a "shadow" of his original self, being able to take a physical form. This allows him to possess people or Fayths, using their Aeons to help him. He is eventually defeated and shortly reunited with Lenne as they fade. In response to rumours that Tidus was created by the Fayths based on Shuyin, Square stated it cannot be certain that Tidus is a "duplication" of Shuyin due to the fact, the inhabitants of Dream Zanarkand began to blend in a different way from the real one. Like Tidus, he is voiced by James Arnold Taylor in English, and Masakazu Morita in Japanese. Other characters Cid is the leader of the Al Bhed, Rikku's father, and Yuna's maternal uncle. He is responsible for bringing the Al Bhed together after it was scattered by Yevon years before Final Fantasy X, and for abducting summoners after Braska's Calm to ensure that the summoners after him, especially Yuna, would not sacrifice themselves to bring about the Calm. This attack ultimately results with the Guados' race attacking Home, which forces Cid to destroy it. He uses the airship his children salvaged, dubbed the Fahrenheit, to aid Tidus and company in fighting Sin. After the events of Final Fantasy X, Cid is one of the few to receive a negative impact from Sin's demise, as his children left him behind to set their sights on the changing Spira, rather than rebuilding Home like most of the other Al Bhed. In Final Fantasy X-2, he attempts to convert Zanarkand into a tourist attraction, only to make his way to the Thunder Plains. After being saved from an ancient Machina, Cid goes on board the Gullwings' Celsius, much to Brother's dismay. However, by Final Fantasy X-2 Internation + Last Mission, Cid returns to make business in Mt. Gagazet alongside his son. He is voiced by Kōichi Sakaguchi in Japanese and Michael McShane in English. Brother is the son of Cid, older brother of Rikku, and cousin of Yuna. The character is voiced by David Rasner in English and Takayuki Yamaguchi in Japanese. Brother participates in the Al Bhed expedition to salvage an airship from the ocean floor, where he meets Tidus. Eventually, he goes on to support the protagonists' struggle against Sin and Yu Yevon as the pilot of the salvaged Fahrenheit. During Final Fantasy X-2, Brother is the pilot of his own airship, the Celsius, and is leader of the Gullwings sphere hunter group with and working alongside him in the ship. Having fallen out with Cid after the events of Final Fantasy X, father and son frequently—and unsuccessfully—try to bury the hatchet and make up. He has feelings for Yuna, and often makes passes at her. But in the long run, Brother eventually resigns himself to an unrequited love, preferring the Yuna he knew her as two years ago compared to as she is now. In Internation + Last Mission, Brother helps his father with his business in Mt. Gagazet. Jecht is Tidus' father, and a blitzball celebrity in his hometown of Dream Zanarkand. Jecht is a tall, muscular, and surly man armed with a large sword. He is voiced by Gregg Berger in English and Masuo Amada in Japanese. It is mentioned multiple times in game that Tidus hates Jecht, as he often verbally abused him as a child; however, Jecht deeply loved Tidus, but found himself unable to express it in a kind way. Jecht became Nomura's favorite character from Final Fantasy X he designed as the finishing model was identical to his first sketches. Before the start of Final Fantasy X, Jecht was taken to Spira by Sin, and was thought to be dead in Zanarkand. In Spira, Jecht joined Auron as one of Braska's guardians to defeat Sin. Having lost hope of returning home, Jecht gave his life to become Braska's Final Aeon, which temporarily defeated Sin; beforehand, he requests that Auron take care of Tidus, believing that Auron could find a way to Dream Zanarkand, and Auron agrees. As a consequence, Jecht became the new Sin ten years later. Sometime later, Jecht asserts some control over Sin, makes his way to the Dream Zanarkand, and communicates with Auron, to transport Tidus to the Spira mainland, repeatedly communicating with his son so that he could find a way to permanently dispose of Sin. Near the end of the game, Tidus' group confronts Jecht inside Sin taking the form of . Before Jecht's death in battle, Tidus makes peace with his father. Jecht has a small voice cameo in the final battles of Final Fantasy X-2 along with Braska and Auron, during which time they give the protagonists encouraging words and advice on where to strike at the machine Vegnagun. Jecht is the villain representing Final Fantasy X in Dissidia Final Fantasy. As revealed in the prequel Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, Jecht is a Warrior of Cosmos, who gives up his position to save Tidus's life before he turned into a Warrior of Chaos. Braska is Yuna's father and the summoner who defeated Sin and brought the Calm ten years before the events in Final Fantasy X, earning him the title of High Summoner. Braska was married to Cid's sister. After Yuna's birth, Braska's wife was killed by Sin. Because of this, Braska decided to become a summoner and embarked on a pilgrimage with his guardians Auron and Jecht to defeat Sin. People were initially skeptical about his and his guardians' ability to defeat Sin, but Braska reached Zanarkand where he sacrificed his life to turn Jecht into the Final Aeon to defeat Sin. He is voiced by Andy Philpot in English and by Takuma Suzuki in Japanese. When Braska's voice is heard in the final fight of X-2, the English voice actor is Dee Bradley Baker rather than Philpot. Lenne is a famous songstress and summoner from Zanarkand during the time of the Machina War, and Shuyin's lover. She was forced to the front lines to fight along with the other summoners in the city. Shuyin attempted to use Bevelle's machina weapon, Vegnagun, to defeat Bevelle and save her life. Lenne convinced Shuyin to stop but the couple was then gunned down by Bevelle soldiers. Upon her death, her spirit was somehow crystallized into Yuna's Songstress Dressphere, which contains her memories. Yuna begins to feel Lenne's presence and feelings more and more until they explode on stage. Because Yuna unknowingly serves as Lenne's host, Shuyin only sees Lenne rather than Yuna herself whenever she dons her Songtress outfit. After Shuyin is defeated, Lenne separates herself from the dressphere and fades with Shuyin while thanking Yuna for helping her. She is voiced by Cree Summer in English, and Kumi Koda in Japanese. Maechen is an elderly itinerant historian who often tells Tidus the history and origins of all things related to Spira. Although he seems to be an ordinary inhabitant of Spira, he reveals himself in Final Fantasy X-2 to be an unsent from Zanarkand who used to live before the city was destroyed, and was so engrossed in his studies that he forgot that he'd died of old age. His memories of his time in Zanarkand are rekindled when he shaks Yuna's hand and realizes her resemblance with Lenne. He is voiced by Dwight Schultz in English and Takuma Suzuki in Japanese. Chocobo Knights The Chocobo Knights are a team of Chocobo-riding soldiers: , the captain; , the second-in-command; and are the only named members of the group. Alongside the Crusaders and the Albhed, the group works in Operation Mi'hen in an attempt to defeat Sin. However, the plan fails and only the Chocobo Knights and one Chocobo survive to the fight against Sin. In Final Fantasy X-2, Lucil, Elma and Clasko have joined the Youth League although Clasko then leaves to become a Chocobo breeder. Crusaders The Crusaders are a semi-military organization which role is to protect Spira's towns from Sin and other monsters. They were founded by Lord Mi'hen eight centuries before the events of Final Fantasy X, and are incorporated into the Yevon clergy. Members of the Crusaders include the high-ranked Luzzu and the younger, lower-ranked Gatta, while Wakka's brother, died a year ago fighting Sin. Depending on the player's actions, either Luzzu or Gatta dies during Operation Mi'hen, while the other one survives and returns to Besaid to rebuild the village's Crusader branch. Dona is a female summoner who mocks Yuna for having a large group of guardians while remarking that Lord Braska only needed two. Her one guardian is , an admirer of Auron, and significantly more friendly than Dona. After escaping from Home in the Airport, Tidus can influence Dona to either continue or quit her pilgrimage. In Final Fantasy X-2, Dona has joined the Youth League while Barthello has sided with New Yevon. Although they are on opposite sides of the conflict, they still have feelings for one another, which lead them to make up later. Isaaru is a summoner guarded by his younger brothers and . Since he was a child, Isaaru has always looked up to Braska, and sets up a challenge with Yuna to see who will defeat Sin first. At Besaid, Isaaru's party gets kidnapped by the Al Bhed and are present at Home's destruction. He is later sent by Yo Mika to prevent Yuna from escaping the Via Purifico, and reluctantly fights her with his Aeons. Defeated, he remains in Bevelle to preserve order along with Pacce and Maroda. The three brothers part ways in Final Fantasy X-2. Isaaru helps out with the Ruin Tours in Zanarkand, Maroda joins the Youth League, and Pacce starts a spherehunting group known as "The Kinderguardians". Eventually, all three reunite in Bevelle and Maroda decides to assist Isaaru with his pursuits there. Yevon Order The Yevon Order is the unique religious organization in Spira. It has been ruled by Grand Maester since fifty years before the events of the game. When Yuna asks Yo Mika to send the unsent Seymour during her trial in Bevelle, Mika reveals that he too is an unsent, having remained in Spira to guide its people even after death. Although Mika condemns Yuna as a traitor for killing Seymour and questioning Yevon, he eventually repeals the condemnation in an attempt to prevent order from breaking down. When he learns that the party has defeated Yunalesca, and thus placed the Final Summoning out of reach forever, he departs to the Farplane, believing that the end of Spira is near. The other Maesters include , the leader of the Crusaders and Warrior Monks and old friend of Auron, who is killed by Seymour after Yuna's trial; , a Yevon maester and leader of the Ronso tribe, who leaves the former after learning that Seymour had committed a patricide but is killed by Seymour; and , the deceased Maester of Yevon killed by his own son Seymour. However, in the events of Final Fantasy X-2, Jyscal, Kinoc and Mika appear unexplainably as an unsent within the depths of Via Infinito and become fiends. Leblanc Syndicate The Leblanc Syndicate is a group of sphere hunters based in Guadosalam, and a rival of the Gullwings. , the arrogant leader of the Syndicate, became a sphere hunter because of her infatuation with Meyvn Nooj. The syndicate is composed of , , and others who were all outcasts in some fashion until Leblanc helped them out. As a result, they follow Leblanc out of dependence and gratitude. After Vegnagun begins to stir and retreats from Bevelle, Leblanc becomes depressed and goes to search for Nooj; she eventually decides to team up with the Gullwings to get into the Farplane, find Nooj, and fight Vegnagun. Gippal is the founder of the Al Bhed Machine Faction that pioneers in machina research. While they possess heavy military power, they prefer to avoid interventions in politics. Gippal is also a former candidate for the Crimson Squad, who once served with Nooj and Baralai. Their friendship was broken on the day of their final candidate exercise, when they turned on each other while under Shuyin's control. Gippal dedicates himself to studying machina to subdue or destroy Shuyin's Vegnagun. During the game, he and his former comrades reunite to help save Spira from Shuyin. He is voiced by Kenichi Suzumura in Japanese and Rick Gomez in English. Baralai is the leader of the New Yevon Party organization inspired by the defunct Yevon religion following the replacement of its founding leaders. Though New Yevon's goal is to make up for the former Yevon Order's transgressions and help those who feel overwhelmed by the rapid changes sweeping Spira, their ideals that a slow evolution of Spira's customs is the only way to prevent complete anarchy made them antagonized by the Youth League for being as furtive as the Yevon clergy before them. Baralai is also former Crimson Squad candidate who becomes involved in Shuyin's quest of revenge. He is possessed by Shuyin to control Vegnagun but Shuyin leaves him upon Vegnagun's destruction. Shortly afterwards, Baralai reconciles with his old friends. He is voiced by Kenji Sobu in Japanese and Josh Gomez in English. Nooj is the leader of the Youth League organization which emerged in the wake of Sin's defeat and whose members advocate radical reform of Spira's society. Its progressive attitude has attracted former Crusaders and younger inhabitants of Spira to its ranks. Nooj is also a former Crusader who lost his left arm and leg during a battle against Sin and replaced them with machina prosthetics. After an incident caused by Shuyin's spirit, Nooj was possessed by Shujin, and shot his friends Paine, Gippal and Baralia, resulting in their split. When Shuyin leaves Nooj and possesses Baralai, Nooj joins Gippal in a quest to free Baralai. In stopping Shuyin, Nooj reunites with his old friends. He is voiced by Nobutoshi Canna in Japanese and George Newbern in English. Cultural impact Merchandising Near the release of the first game, Square released multiple types of merchandising featuring the cast of Final Fantasy X including plushes and action figures. A CD titled Final Fantasy X Vocal Collection contains monologues and character songs by the Japanese voice actors. Another CD is an extended play with themes by actors Masakazu Morita and Mayuko Aoki who do the characters of Tidus and Yuna, respectively. A three-CD album, Final Fantasy X-2 Vocal Collection, was also released featuring tracks by the actors behind Yuna, Rikku and Paine. A new action figures for Tidus was also released in conmemoration of Final Fantasy 20th anniversary alongside other protagonists from the franchise. Critical response Critical reception to the characters from Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 has been positive. The cast from Final Fantasy X has been well received by IGN's David Smith for their characteristics which avoided clichés, commenting that supporting cast was "rock-solid". IGN also appreciated the variety of characters based on Spira's regions, favorably comparing it with the ones from Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy IX. They also found the supporting cast "rock-solid." GameSpot writer Greg Kasavin found the game's cast entertaining and emphasized how different was Tidus from previous Final Fantasy heroes in terms of personality yet still was appealing. Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell noted how the character development from the main cast "converge to bind the group and the player on an emotional level" and stated that thanks to the animation, the game is "transformed into more of a movie than a game at times." Various characters have also stood out within the Final Fantasy franchise and games in general with Tidus and Yuna appearing in GameZone's list of the ten best Final Fantasy characters as well in a Famitsu poll of the best 100 video game characters with GameZone praising the two characters' attitudes. Additionally, Tidus and Yuna have been listed by several publications as one of the best couples in gaming. GameSpot cited the romance's progress across the game as one of its strongest elements, while GamesRadar referred to it as a realistic relation. The main cast of Final Fantasy X-2 was also praised with writers comparing the trio with the protagonists from Charlie's Angels. Raymond Padilla from GameSpy also praised the game's visual which resulted in appealing character designs. The change of several designs in Final Fantasy X-2 resulted in mixed reactions with GameSpot criticizing "a dominantly lighthearted tone" in comparison to Final Fantasy X darker atmosphere, while IGN praised the clothing designs, combining "proven and recognizable Final Fantasy styles" with a "revealing neo-modern fashion sense". The voice casting was praised by Game Revolution who noted most of them were "above average". Bramwell was more critical owing to the lack lipsynching and unsuitable tones that made him wonder why could not the gamers listen to the original Japanese audio. Criticism to the English acting in Final Fantasy X was aimed towards James Arnold Taylor's and Hedy Burress's portrayal of Tidus and Yuna, respectively, in comparison to the original Japanese delivery which made the characters less interesting. The English release of Final Fantasy X-2 won the Seventh Annual Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences award in 2004 for Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance in recognition of the character Rikku. References Category:Final Fantasy X Final Fantasy 0102